Celebrating “Amazing Raise” donations to the RCC Educational Foundation on September 18 were (left to right) Tom Coye, pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kilmarnock; Dennis Burchill, manager of Two Rivers Communication; the Bank of Lancaster’s Susan Pittman, who is also a member of the River Counties Community Foundation Advisory Board; RCC EFI director Cherie Carl; Leslie Franklin, the regional grants management associate for The Community Foundation; RCC-Workforce coordinator David Valadez; Pradeep Ghimire, an RCC associate professor of accounting; Basheer Abdul-Malick, an administrative assistant at RCC’s Kilmarnock Center; and RCC’s president, Dr. Elizabeth Crowther.

An online giving challenge—“The Amazing Raise,” held from 6 a.m. September 17 to 6 p.m. on the 18th —garnered a total of $3,075 from 35 generous donors for the Rappahannock Community College Educational Foundation (RCC EFI). The event was locally sponsored by the River Counties Community Foundation, in collaboration with The Community Foundation in Richmond. The final hour of donations was celebrated with a festive gathering at RCC’s Kilmarnock Center.

In expressing her appreciation for the opportunity to share in “The Amazing Raise,” RCC’s president, Dr. Elizabeth Crowther, said, “This was an incredibly fun and easy way for the community to give to its favorite organizations”—as all of the participants were available on a single screen at the “Amazing Raise” web site. She added, “For the RCC Educational Foundation, it is one other way to remind the community that we need individuals’ help to serve students and employers. We are grateful to the River Counties Community Foundation for this vehicle to help our organizations, and we are eager to participate again next year.”

RCC EFI director Cherie Carl commented, “The collaborative aspect of ‘The Amazing Raise’ was stimulating and rewarding. Partnering with River Counties Community Foundation and other nonprofits in our region was fun and exciting. Coming together as a group helped us all promote our organizations as we work to raise awareness and to support our local area.”